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Just realised I don't appear to have posted this review (dated 5 March 2021 in my notes) so better late than never, I guess!
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I enjoyed this quite a lot more than the first time. It did actually make me feel stuff, this time, which was nice (and rare, for this season)! Some lovely little moments, especially various ones with Graham and Yaz, and Graham and Prem.
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I quite enjoyed this episode as it went. All the guest characters were likeable and the Pting was cute and it was all quite fun and light-hearted. But looking back on it, there really wasn't very much there, was there?
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( More under the cut )
More random thoughts (mainly from reading other people's thoughts), following on from my reaction post yesterday:
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In other news, after many years' resistance, I have finally joined Reddit because that's the one place (apart from Tumblr, which I still just can't get my head around) where fandom seems to be actually active! If you ever want to find me on there, I am now UnfeatheredAngel there, because there was apparently already a deleted account for Unfeathered. I'm now wondering if that was me at some point over the last decade…!
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In other news, after many years' resistance, I have finally joined Reddit because that's the one place (apart from Tumblr, which I still just can't get my head around) where fandom seems to be actually active! If you ever want to find me on there, I am now UnfeatheredAngel there, because there was apparently already a deleted account for Unfeathered. I'm now wondering if that was me at some point over the last decade…!
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I actually really rather enjoyed this one. It felt much better paced, mainly. Plus a really decent, scary (and yet subsequently sympathetic) threat. Even the annoying bad guy was entertaining enough not to be too annoying.
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(Original review here)
I think it says a lot about our (my son’s and my) ‘meh’ feelings about our first watch of S11 that it’s taken us OVER TWO YEARS to get to our rewatch of it, though admittedly it’s partly also because we were rewatching the whole lot from S1 again and took that long to get here. But now that we are here…
Two episodes in and I’m afraid I’m still ‘meh’. The reasons I covered here are, I'm afraid, still valid. Son and I agreed, on discussing after this episode (Ghost Monument) that everything is just too safe and nice. I love Thirteen, Graham, Yas and Ryan, they're lovely people, but they're too nice. Where's the conflict? A little tiny bit of mild aggro between Graham and Ryan but that's about it. They all have absolute faith in the Doctor so no conflict there. Hell, the two guest characters had more character than this lot!
It has been mentioned before, I can't remember by whom (probably Elisi, maybe Astrogirl, maybe both) that Thirteen took Twelve's advice to be 'kind' and turned it into be 'nice' and this totally feels like what I'm seeing here.
In that post I linked to I mentioned the lack of humour, which I definitely felt here, but upon reflection and discussion with son we realised it's not just humour but silliness. Doctor Who has always been silly. Sometimes the Doctor himself has been silly, but if not (e.g. One) then it's been other people poking fun at him. But the show has always poked fun at itself. But I feel here like this new show is taking itself incredibly seriously, and in doing so, it's lost a lot of what makes it Doctor Who.
I think it says a lot about our (my son’s and my) ‘meh’ feelings about our first watch of S11 that it’s taken us OVER TWO YEARS to get to our rewatch of it, though admittedly it’s partly also because we were rewatching the whole lot from S1 again and took that long to get here. But now that we are here…
Two episodes in and I’m afraid I’m still ‘meh’. The reasons I covered here are, I'm afraid, still valid. Son and I agreed, on discussing after this episode (Ghost Monument) that everything is just too safe and nice. I love Thirteen, Graham, Yas and Ryan, they're lovely people, but they're too nice. Where's the conflict? A little tiny bit of mild aggro between Graham and Ryan but that's about it. They all have absolute faith in the Doctor so no conflict there. Hell, the two guest characters had more character than this lot!
It has been mentioned before, I can't remember by whom (probably Elisi, maybe Astrogirl, maybe both) that Thirteen took Twelve's advice to be 'kind' and turned it into be 'nice' and this totally feels like what I'm seeing here.
In that post I linked to I mentioned the lack of humour, which I definitely felt here, but upon reflection and discussion with son we realised it's not just humour but silliness. Doctor Who has always been silly. Sometimes the Doctor himself has been silly, but if not (e.g. One) then it's been other people poking fun at him. But the show has always poked fun at itself. But I feel here like this new show is taking itself incredibly seriously, and in doing so, it's lost a lot of what makes it Doctor Who.
Watched this again with my son last night as part of our latest rewatch (4th or perhaps 5th watching? Possibly 6th?) and we both agreed this is still one of the very best episodes of Doctor Who. Not just for the cleverness of the time-related plot, and the amazing make-up and acting of John Simm, and the gradual reveal of the Cybermen, but just for *everything*. There is nothing I don't like in this episode. It all fits together beautifully – beautifully crafted is perhaps the term. And the way it goes from the daft, off-beat beginning with Missy mucking around and teasing Bill and Nardole and the Doctor watching with his feet up, eating crisps and making sardonic remarks, to the full-on horror of what has happened on the ship (the "Pain. Pain. Pain." Cyberman has to be one of THE creepiest moments in DW) and what happens to Bill, and then the spine-tingling reveal of the Master and that final moment of Missy and the Master on either side of Cyber-converted Bill and the look of absolute horror on the Doctor's face.
Truly a masterpiece.
(My original review is here)
Truly a masterpiece.
(My original review is here)
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That was good. I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than last week's.
(Though to be fair I was really ill last week and spent most of my time just trying (and mostly failing) to follow the plot. Need to watch it again!)
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(Though to be fair I was really ill last week and spent most of my time just trying (and mostly failing) to follow the plot. Need to watch it again!)
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Okay, more thoughts following a rewatch, though there still needs to be several more rewatches to get it all!
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Okay. Very late on this, because there was just SO MUCH in the episode and it took me days to work myself up to having enough brainpower to watch it again in order to try and form some coherent thoughts. Which… are probably not so coherent (and probably even less so because it's now some time since I rewatched and wrote the notes), but here goes.
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Overall, a fascinating episode and one I'm definitely going to come back to a lot. One day, when I find some time!
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Overall, a fascinating episode and one I'm definitely going to come back to a lot. One day, when I find some time!
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Well, I have to say, I didn't see that coming!
Also? Lenny Henry is awesome. :-)
Also also? I really enjoyed that.
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Also also also? I seriously need to get some up to date icons.
Edit: See also comments here:
https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/969422.html
Also? Lenny Henry is awesome. :-)
Also also? I really enjoyed that.
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Also also also? I seriously need to get some up to date icons.
Edit: See also comments here:
https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/969422.html
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Well, that's another series over (apart from the not!Christmas special) and I don't really feel anything. Which has been my whole problem with the series, tbh. I was so looking forward to it, but although I like the characters well enough – especially Graham – the whole thing has left me feeling incredibly meh. I haven't even felt interested enough to read many reviews, which at least Moffat's series' did, even if it was mostly to ridicule the plot or the inconsistencies etc. This series has felt a lot more consistent (although I'm not sure the plots actually make much more sense, but then that's DW!) but for me it's just never really got going.
I think a large part of that is the lack of humour. I came to new!Who on the back of Buffy/Angel, which I adored because of the way Joss mixed deep, dark drama with witty one-liners and banter. This series has had very little of that, and I didn't realise that that was what was missing until last week (the Norwegian one) when I suddenly found myself laughing – ironically enough, I think it was at Ryan's comment about "We'd know if we were vampires, right?"
Also, possibly, these companions are too nice. While they do feel like good, rounded characters, apart from Graham I don't feel they've really challenged the Doctor much. And of course the Doctor herself is a lot nicer so maybe that's a part of the problem too? I love Jodie and have no problem with a female Doctor and it's been really interesting seeing the differences it's made, but perhaps this particular difference isn't one that's good for the kind of stories I've come to love?
I'm really hoping that when I come to rewatch the season I will find more in it to enjoy, as has been the case in the past, especially when getting used to a new Doctor/showrunner. Unfortunately, that will mean I've missed a lot of the discussion, although perhaps the new insurgence of Tumblr refugees will provide some new forums for discussion. Here's hoping. I'm not ready to let go of being a fan of this show yet!
I think a large part of that is the lack of humour. I came to new!Who on the back of Buffy/Angel, which I adored because of the way Joss mixed deep, dark drama with witty one-liners and banter. This series has had very little of that, and I didn't realise that that was what was missing until last week (the Norwegian one) when I suddenly found myself laughing – ironically enough, I think it was at Ryan's comment about "We'd know if we were vampires, right?"
Also, possibly, these companions are too nice. While they do feel like good, rounded characters, apart from Graham I don't feel they've really challenged the Doctor much. And of course the Doctor herself is a lot nicer so maybe that's a part of the problem too? I love Jodie and have no problem with a female Doctor and it's been really interesting seeing the differences it's made, but perhaps this particular difference isn't one that's good for the kind of stories I've come to love?
I'm really hoping that when I come to rewatch the season I will find more in it to enjoy, as has been the case in the past, especially when getting used to a new Doctor/showrunner. Unfortunately, that will mean I've missed a lot of the discussion, although perhaps the new insurgence of Tumblr refugees will provide some new forums for discussion. Here's hoping. I'm not ready to let go of being a fan of this show yet!